Watchdog rules Foley interview not impartial

ABC Adelaide radio duo Matt Abraham and David Bevan failed to be impartial in an interview with former South Australian treasurer Kevin Foley earlier this year, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found.

In a ruling on Monday, the ACMA said the presenters breached the impartiality requirements of the ABC's code of practice in the interview on ABC 891 in April this year.

"The ACMA found that the presenters displayed fixed prejudgment on the topics discussed, asked loaded questions and used disparaging language," the media watchdog said in a statement.

The authority said it had received two complaints over the interview.

The first complainant objected to the tone of the questions the presenters put to the MP and considered that Mr Foley had every right to feel unfairly persecuted.

In its response to the investigation, the ABC said the questions addressed legitimate matters of public interest and did so in a calm and measured tone.

"Mr Foley was given ample opportunity to answer fully all the questions put to him," the ABC said.

The ACMA said it accepted that interviewers were permitted to be robustly probing in their questioning, particularly when dealing with an accomplished and experienced media performer such as Mr Foley.

"However, it is considered that the presenters conveyed prejudgments and used language that gave effect to a real or assumed enmity (in the form of derision) towards the interviewee," it said in reasons for its decision.

"These features in conjunction meant that the broadcast as a whole was not impartial."

The ACMA said it was liaising with the ABC about appropriate remedial measures.

In October this year Mr Foley stood down from state cabinet, and last week he quit politics altogether, ending his 18-year career in state parliament.

A by-election will be held for his seat of Port Adelaide on February 11.